Fishing pole holders for bank fishing have come and gone, many devised with alarm devices which are triggered by movement of the fishing line to signal the presence of a potential catch if the fisherman takes over control of the fishing pole. In bank fishing vertical movement of the rod tip by itself would probably not result in setting the fish hook because the outstretched line is usually at a small angle to the axis of the fishing rod and an upward pull on the line would do little more than make a slight change in the angle between the rod and the line. In order to set the hook the accelerated or snatching force must be almost directly opposite to the direction of the line itself. Ice fishing lends itself to mechanical line tending and activation of the rod tip. By definition, the ice fishing line is almost perpendicular to the rod and upward movement of the rod tip results in swift movement of the line in the correct direction to set the hook.
It is therefore the primary purpose of the present invention to provide a pole holder and line tending apparatus for an ice fishing pole which can be cocked or loaded for hook setting action and then triggered into release by a movement of the fishing line to accelerate the pole into an angular position where the rod tip is elevated from its quiescent position.
A second object of the invention is to provide a simple triggering mechanism which can be easily set and reset.
Other and further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparant from a reading of the detailed description of a preferred form of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.